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Hannibal: 3x05, Contorno

As we’ve seen in this season’s previous episodes, Hannibal has set the stage for his own capture and has lured all his enemies to one place, posing the question: who will reach Hannibal first? Episode 5 of Hannibal, titled “Contorno,” featured a number of explosive moments including this season’s first major death and the much awaited round 2 showdown between Hannibal and Jack. As for the outcome of the deadly fight this time around? Let’s just say, Hannibal barely escapes being beaten to death. I’ll go more into detail about the battle in just a bit. “Contorno” features each of the characters being paired off with someone as they hunt for Hannibal. Will has Chiyoh, Jack tags along with Detective Pazzi and Alana remains in her alliance with Mason Verger.

Our first pairing of the bunch is Will and Chiyoh as we and Will learn more about the mysterious Chiyoh who originally started off as Lady Murasaki’s attendant, who happens to be Hannibal’s aunt. Chiyoh reveals, after feigning ignorance for quite some time, that she knows exactly where Hannibal is. At this point, even after learning all that we have about Chiyoh, her motives remain unknown and we don’t really know what her purpose is to the plot. It’s obvious that Will has taken a liking to Chiyoh, and in a way, views her as one of his strays.

This episode touches upon Will’s compassion and his need of being a savior; I wonder if this behavior stems from him being unable to save Beverly and Abigail--both were dear to him and both were taken away from him by Hannibal. This begs the question: how can Will be so forgiving towards an individual who's taken so much from him? It’s a question I’m sure other characters of Hannibal are wondering themselves. It’s a bond that defies any other and should logically still not exist, but Hannibal and Will can’t stop themselves from gravitating towards each other. I theorize that this “connection” will be the reason Hannibal gets caught.

Will and Chiyoh have a heart-to-heart on their journey to Florence, which leads to Chiyoh kissing Will and then pushing him off the back of the train; well, that transitioned quite quickly. It’s more obvious now than before that Chiyoh clearly has an agenda of her own or she wants to face Hannibal alone and protect Will from getting harmed, but is she even that attached to him to begin with?

My favorite character arc of “Contorno” was Jack’s. Jack bid an emotional and final adieu to Bella as he pours her ashes and steadies himself for what’s to come. Jack then has dinner with Pazzi who has dangerous plans of his own. He’s convinced Hannibal is the killer he’s been looking for for years on end and decides to continue investigating and hunting down Hannibal without the knowledge of his department, which by this episode's end, proves to be a major mistake. Pazzi finds Hannibal due to all the professors Hannibal has been killing as of late. Hannibal made his location obvious and Pazzi was the first to notice, but instead of phoning in his department and calling for backup, Pazzi decides to seek a more selfish reward for his hunt. Pazzi decides to do some extra research and thus finds out about Mason’s hefty bounty in regards to any information about Hannibal. Pazzi and Mason talk via video-chat, and Mason promises Pazzi a heavy reward and an advance payment if he can retrieve Hannibal’s fingerprints. Mason and Alana spend a majority of this episode scheming and having conversations together; one such conversation led to the episode's most memorable line as Mason offhandedly remarks, “I’m sure you got a taste of Hannibal, too; spitters are quitters, and you don’t strike me as a quitter, Dr. Bloom.” Yes, Mason actually said that, and no, he did not get slapped for it.

With money on the line and a killer to confront, Pazzi makes his move against Hannibal, and it ends up being the last thing he does. Hannibal is aware of Pazzi coming for him and sets the perfect trap, which leads to Pazzi falling victim to Hannibal. R.I.P. Dectective Pazzi, we hardly knew ye. Hannibal slices open Pazzi’s stomach and hangs his body as a humorous ode to Francesco Pazzi, Pazzi’s ancestor who was killed the same exact way. Hannibal does love being ironic when killing his prey. Pazzi’s death seemed bathed in irony not just because of his ancestor, but because of his early conversations with Will Graham. Pazzi claimed he’s exactly like Will and that they share the same gift. In the end, Pazzi and Will couldn’t be any more different. Hannibal did not hesitate when killing Pazzi and Will warned him of his inevitable demise. I assume Pazzi wished he had listened to Will before acting on his own.

Jack waltzes by just as Pazzi’s body is hung, and Hannibal and Jack finally face off. Jack proceeds to crush Hannibal in their fight this time around, and all Hannibal can do is taunt Jack about Bella’s passing. At this moment, we see a beaten Hannibal but Jack makes the mistake of tossing Hannibal out the window. Hannibal clings to Pazzi’s hanging body and makes his swift escape into the night. Jack may not have killed Hannibal, but the beating he gave him was well and truly deserved.

Hannibal has escaped once more, but his luck is slowly and surely running out. He has yet to face Will face to face and Episode 6 promises a reunion of some kind. What will happen when Hannibal and Will reunite? Will Hannibal try to kill and eat Will? What is Bedelia and Chiyoh’s endgame? So many questions have yet to be answered, and I can hardly wait for the next episode.

What were your thoughts on “Contorno”? Let us know in the comments below!